About Cracks & Racks

Scott moved to Aspen in ’92 with a degree in Actuarial Science from The University of Iowa and quickly put it to good use bussing tables and working as a salad bar attendant at a local eatery. While he still enjoys a good salad now and again, he spends much of his time working in front of the computer, answering phones, and live chatting on this site. In his free time (and admittedly during business hours too) Scott enjoys spending time with his family riding bikes, skiing, SUP'ing, and playing hockey.

Jose is originally from Oaxaca, Mexico and has worked at Cracks & Racks since 2005. He is a hard-working husband and father of 3 young children. Jose is a multi-talented, lead technician at Cracks & Racks. He is a validated and experienced glass installer whose skill and professionalism have been recognized by the Auto Glass Safety Council. He is also highly skilled at installing racks, hitches, wiring and other custom projects. In his spare time, he enjoys working on his own cars, playing soccer and spending time with his family.

Sal grew up on Long Beach Island, NJ where he was a skilled carpenter. He would go to Hunter mountain, NY to snowboard on the weekends and wanted to experience the best mountains so he moved to Aspen in October 2015 and worked at Four Mountain Sports in Snowmass to live his dream of snowboarding everyday. He got 130 days! He enjoys snowboarding, hiking, biking, basketball, and baseball. In his spare time he likes to enjoy nature, learn new things and catch up with family and friends.

A Brief History of Cracks & Racks:

Cracks & Racks spawned from a tiny windshield repair business that began in Aspen in January, 1996. Scott would dart around town on his bike that he rigged with a milk crate and some signs, and fix minor windshield damage. At the end of the day, he would do the bookkeeping from the end of his kitchen table in a 3-bedroom condo with 4 other roommates. They didn't eat at the table very much that winter.

In the fall of 1997, Scott learned how to replace windshields, and opened a small shop, called Fas-Break, in the Aspen Airport Business Center. With a tiny loan, and a tinier budget, he developed relationships with some local insurance agents, and began advertising windshield replacement services. He could do installs in the shop, or he could do them on-site with a custom glass rack that fit into the receiver hitch of his SUV.

In the fall of 2000 a friend suggested that Scott sell and install roof racks and become a niche retailer. He thought it was a good idea and realized how easily this could fit with auto glass replacement. At this point, he started planning to become a full-blown specialty rack retailer and struck a deal to take over another shop bay and double the shop size, while still remaining in the same building in the Aspen Business Center. Now there was enough space to sell and install windshields and rack systems, and thus, Cracks & Racks was born.

As the new product rolled in disaster struck. Scott blew up his knee skiing Aspen Highlands on St. Patrick's day. The next day he found himself in surgery having his ACL reconstructed, while mentally trying to figure out how to change the business plan to get Cracks & Racks off the ground. Somehow things have a tendency to work themselves out, and we moved forward, albeit a bit slowly.

Our name changed from Fas-Break to Cracks & Racks in April 2001, which led many people to believe we were a new business. People even conjured up their own play on words with our new name. We learned a lot about racks in those first few months. We forced other retailers to re-examine their rack business as we set out to offer complete and professional rack sales and installation. Cracks & Racks offered more than just racks and windshields for sale. We developed relationships with our customers, listened to them, and helped create functional solutions to their individual needs. Doing so, we enhanced the lifestyle of thousands of local enthusiasts.

Privacy Policy

We respect your privacy! We will only use your email address for official communications with you from cracksandracks.com and we will never reveal, sell, rent, lease, trade or give it away. In fact, we have no desire to do any of those things. Your personal information is safe and confidential with us. We romise not to sell or give your information to anyone for any reason other than to complete the transaction at hand. If you enter into any Cracks & Racks contests or submit any photos for our gallery, you are giving us full rights to use your name, any text submitted, and your images on our site. If you want credit for images submitted, please ask and we will be sure it gets listed with the photos. If you place an order with us, we may, from time to time, email you with updates on products, sales, recalls or warranty issues.

About Us

Cracks & Racks is located in Aspen, Colorado and has been specializing in car racks since 1996.... read more